Saturday, 11 February 2017

We would like to let you know that Basel university currently offers a one-year PhD scholarship within its Department of Ancient civilisations (starting from 1 October 2017).
For more information, please follow this link and note that the deadline for applications is 01 April 2017.

Since it is the 68th anniversary of CIPSH (The International Council for Philosophy and Human Sciences), we would to forward to you their commemorative letter.

"Dear colleagues,

Chers collègues,

The CIPSH was created 68 years ago, the 18th January, 1949.

Le CIPSH fut créé il y a 68 ans, le 18 Janvier, 1949.

At the time, the wounds of WWII and the need to rebuild societies across the globe, facing challenges such as the independence of colonies, the rebuilding of cities preserving heritage, or the new geostrategic balances and related intercultural relations, raised attention on the relevance of history, philosophy, literature and the humanistic studies in general. In fact, the recent disasters and the fear of losing peace again, were certainly major reasons for the support to create CIPSH in the constellation of the first UNESCO related independent initiatives.

Our current course is no less complex, and we should not take many of the ongoing advances (new members of CIPSH, Humanities UNESCO chairs being prepared, the road towards the World Humanities Conference, the contacts with the arts and the other sciences, the consideration of our contributions in debates concerning sustainability, climate, ethics or migrations,…) and difficulties (decay of funding, retreat of humanities programmes in many countries, academic unemployment, still insufficient transdisciplinary collaboration,…) as a mere consequence of the decisions of CIPSH and its member organisations. The growing tensions, failures and deceptions in societies, will growingly raise attention to the Humanities. It is very interesting to notice that several proposals to the World Humanities Conference focus not only in transversal themes, but also on understanding the major relevance of history, classics, literature or epistemology, to meet current society needs.

I thank you all for the great effort all the members of CIPSH are doing, investing in this confederative approach despite the difficulties we all experience in our own disciplinary base units. Of course, working together is evidently the best way to protect, also, the future working conditions of each of our disciplines (namely when considering how education or research funding will evolve), but we all know how difficult it became to still keep the time and resources to make this effort. While we live in times of “mixed trends” concerning the humanities, I think we all agree that having a strong common International Council is a fundamental tool for all of us to be listened by governments, research foundations or related institutions.

I wish we will be able to make the most of the ongoing projects, and namely use the World Humanities Conference for retrieving a central position in all major international discussions, setting together a specific agenda that may bring all of us collaborating within a common framework of major projects, in which the mid and long term reasoning contributes for critical knowledge and creativity. In a moment when the daily anguishing pressure leads most to the illusion of a future built on the basis of short term solutions oriented quest, it is for the humanities alone (including the arts and the fundamental sciences) to keep that dimension.

Thursday, 2 February 2017

The SCS (Society for Classical Studies) has released a public statement reacting to the executive order recently issued by the Trump administration. Please read the full statement below or follow this link:

"In light of the executive order on immigration issued on Friday, January 27, 2017, the Society for Classical Studies publicly reaffirms its commitment to the international community of scholars and to the importance of the free movement of scholarship and ideas. We believe that the selective ban placed on the entry to the United States by individuals of particular nationalities and (in effect) of particular religious beliefs, the suspension of all refugee processing, and the suspension of the Visa Interview Waiver Program are harmful to students, scholars, and academic institutions in this country and, given the importance of the middle eastern region to the study of classical antiquity, of particular concern to our discipline.

The legal and procedural situation with respect to this order remains unclear and somewhat in flux, as the status of green card holders has apparently been revised, and it seems that a number of individuals originally detained have been released. Nevertheless, we join with many other colleges, universities, and academic organizations in expressing our strong concern that the actions set out in the executive order run contrary, not only to the foundations of our discipline, but to some of the deepest values of the United States—as a nation of immigrants, of freedom, and of hope. Further, we join with many colleagues here and around the world in urging that legal and legislative actions be taken, as necessary, to ensure that those values are upheld."